Aspire (2025)

The Black Balloon

Thomas is turning 16. His dad's in the army and they've just moved to a town in New South Wales; his mom is pregnant; his older brother, Charlie, who's autistic, has his own adolescent sexual issues. Thomas finds Charlie an embarrassment in public, so when Thomas is attracted to Jackie, a girl in his swim class, Charlie presents any number of obstacles when she drops by their house, when the three of them go for a walk, and during a family birthday dinner. Can Thomas find a way to enter the world of teen romance and still be his brother's keeper, or is Charlie's disability going to prove more than Thomas can handle?

The Puppet Asylum

Otto Baxter, a filmmaker with Down's Syndrome, directs and stars in this musical horror-comedy short based on his life, set in Victorian London.

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People

Sidney Young is a down-on-his-luck journalist. Thanks to a stint involving a pig and a glitzy awards ceremony, Sidney turns his fortunes around, attracting the attention of Clayton Harding, editor of New York-based glossy magazine 'Sharps', and landing the holy grail of journalism jobs. The Brit jets off to the Big Apple and moves from one blunder to the next.

Being There

A simple-minded gardener named Chance has spent all his life in the Washington D.C. house of an old man. When the man dies, Chance is put out on the street with no knowledge of the world except what he has learned from television.

Bless the Child

When Maggie's sister Jenna saddles her with an autistic newborn named Cody she touches Maggie's heart and becomes the daughter she has always longed for. But six years later Jenna suddenly re-enters her life and, with her mysterious new husband, Eric Stark, abducts Cody. Despite the fact that Maggie has no legal rights to Cody, FBI agent John Travis takes up her cause when he realizes that Cody shares the same birth date as several other recently murdered children.

Liminal Girl

Amidst the pandemic, a woman embarks on a treacherous journey through the wilderness to reach her brother while grappling with her mental state.

Die Eisbombe

Plot unavailable

Lukas & the Aspies

'Lukas & the Aspies' is a story about 12-year old Lukas. In many ways, Lukas is a normal kid: He plays in a band, hangs out with his friends and fights with his little brother. But Lukas' has also Asperger syndrome - and hence his own set of unique problems.

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

A young but bright former window cleaner rises to the top of his company by following the advice of a book about ruthless advancement in business.

Adam

Adam, a lonely man with Asperger's Syndrome, develops a relationship with his upstairs neighbor, Beth.

Lone Wolves

When a single, pragmatic forty-something recruits the eclectic guy she didn’t go to prom with back in high school to be her D-I-Y sperm donor, but learns that he’s Autistic and navigating some significant mental health issues, her carefully planned hopes are turned upside down in one crazy weekend in Toledo, Ohio.

Nell

In a remote woodland cabin, a small town doctor discovers Nell — a beautiful young hermit woman with many secrets.

Son-Rise: A Miracle of Love

A young couple is overjoyed when they find out that, after having had two girls, the wife is pregnant again, and this time it will be a son. However, the boy turns out to autistic. Unhappy with the diagnoses and treatments available, they decide to work out their own therapy program for their son.

Ben X

Harassed by bullies because of his mild autism, teen Ben finds refuge in an online computer game, which leads him to his virtual dream girl, Scarlite. Together, the odd couple seeks revenge against Ben's tormentors.

A World Record Christmas

Marissa and Eric encourage their young son with autism, who is determined to set a Guinness World Record — and has the chance to do so on Christmas Eve.

Mercury Rising

Renegade FBI agent Art Jeffries protects a nine-year-old autistic boy who has cracked the government's new "unbreakable" code.

The Devils

The story of the struggle of an autistic girl and her brother trying to survive without their parents.

Mary and Max

A tale of friendship between two unlikely pen pals: Mary, a lonely, eight-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, and Max, a forty-four-year old, severely obese man living in New York.

The Boy Who Could Fly

Milly and Louis, and their recently-widowed mom, Charlene, move to a new neighborhood. Once there, they all deal with a variety of personal problems, but Milly finds a friend in Eric, her autistic next door neighbor. Eric has a fascination with flight, and as the story progresses, he exerts an enthralling force of change on all those around him.

The Other Sister

A mentally challenged girl proves herself to be every bit as capable as her "perfect" sister when she moves into an apartment and begins going to college.

Change of Habit

Dr. John Carpenter takes the job of running a health center in a low-income district. He enlists three women to help out who — unbeknownst to him — are actually nuns in street clothes. The church wants to improve the neighborhood but fears that nuns in full habit would not be well received. Unaware of her unavailability, John falls for Sister Michelle, serenading her with his guitar — which, luckily for him, effectively wears away at her religious resolve.

Swati Muthyam

After an autistic man impulsively marries a young widow, she must move to the city and ensure the welfare of her new family, against the glare of societal judgement and financial struggle.

Processing...

A man attempts to operate a mysterious device, but with each attempt comes a new set of problems.

Ezra

Stand-up comedian Max Bernal lives with his father Stan while struggling to co-parent his autistic son Ezra with his ex-wife. When forced to confront difficult decisions about their son's future, Max and Ezra embark on a cross-country road trip that has a transcendent impact on both their lives.

Burning Bright

After her lousy stepfather steals her savings to buy a vicious tiger, Kelly loses all hope of going to college. But Kelly's situation worsens when a hurricane leaves her and her autistic brother boarded up in their house with the man-eating beast. This edge-of-your-seat thriller follows the gutsy heroine and her younger sibling as they struggle to outwit the ravenous predator and find a way to survive.

MMA - A Fathers Fight

When Max, a former MMA world champion about to retire, discovers he has an 8-year-old autistic son, his life is turned upside down. Now, as he trains for one last opportunity to regain his world champion title, Max must deal with his new family and his father, from whom he has long been estranged.

Flying Lessons

Two estranged adopted sisters are forced together by their mother's sudden death: Beatrice, an autistic Chinese high school senior who wants to learn to fly, and Talia, a queer black musician who never wanted custody of Beatrice in the first place. Starring the autistic actress the story is based on, the film blurs narrative and documentary styles and showcases a unique and underrepresented perspective on death and grief.

Temple Grandin

A biopic of Temple Grandin, an autistic American who has become one of the leading scientists in humane livestock handling.

Cha Cha Real Smooth

Fresh out of college and stuck at his New Jersey home without a clear path forward, 22-year-old Andrew begins working as a party starter for bar/bat mitzvahs—where he strikes up a unique friendship with a young mom and her teenage daughter.

Molly

Molly McKay is a profoundly autistic twenty-something woman who has lived in an institution from a young age following her parents' death in a car accident. When the institution must close due budget cuts, Molly is left in the care of her neurotypical, older brother, Buck McKay, an advertising executive and perennial bachelor. Buck makes her undergo an experimental medical treatment, with unexpectedly drastic results.

Lover Come Back

Jerry Webster and Carol Templeton are rival Madison Avenue advertising executives who each dislike each other’s methods. After he steals a client out from under her cute little nose, revenge prompts her to infiltrate his secret "VIP" campaign in order to persuade the mystery product’s scientist to switch to her firm.

Benny & Joon

A mentally ill young woman finds her love in an eccentric man who models himself after Buster Keaton.

Secretary

A young woman, recently released from a mental hospital, gets a job as a secretary to a demanding lawyer, where their employer-employee relationship turns into a sexual, sadomasochistic one.

The River

Episodic study of feelings where six stories intertwine over one Saturday in a small town. Two boys save a young woman, Anni, and her baby from suicide by drowning. Esa, a down-on-his-luck musician in need of a loan, arrives to his father's 60th birthday party. Waitress Leena tries to stir up a romance between her co-workers at a pizza parlor. Middle-aged Ilpo comes home early from the paper mill and finds a strange man in their bedroom. Old Milja waits for her daughter Merja at the hospital where she is visiting her terminally ill husband Henri. Teenage Santeri tries to cope with his homosexuality.

Ocean Heaven

The story of a father's tireless love for his autistic son. A terminally ill father's attempt to teach his autistic son the necessary life skills to survive on his own before he passes away. It is also a poignant tribute to the infinite love that parents have for their children and their unending desire to take care and look after them to their best abilities, no matter the struggle, no matter the effort.